This history of the Renaissance surveys the extraordinary impact of the culture which dramatically affected Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. It examines the social, commerical and political background which enabled the arts to flourish in this period in the way that they did, stressing the importance of the great commercial cities of Florence, Bruges and Venice. Beginning with the Florentine Renaissance, the author traces abd development of humanism in art, politics, science and philosophy and discusses the impact of the High Renaissance in Italy on the rest of Europe.